everything you need to read this week by @stephthefounder (August 25th)

The goal is to be the best weekly newsletter to be the most succinct + fun way to learn about all the best things you need to know across tech, startups, VC, etc, sent out every Monday. (and at the minimum, it will include the links I post about every week on instagram!). Feedback (and a better/more creative newsletter name than the boring one I have now) always welcome!

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hi friends 💛💛

i had a minor freakout this morning realizing that next week is ✨ literally September ✨ 🤯 where does time go??

the story i think deserves even more attention from last week is about hank green’s focus friend app topping the charts (even hitting #1 at some point !! above chatGPT - see below)

• ironically, one of the core themes i’m seeing resonate most on social media lately is people’s desire for less screen time / less doomscrolling. hence why my anti-doomscrolling weekly reads has taken off. other examples that have really resonated: a new physical phone that hooks up to your phone, the brain rot app, etc etc.

• another win for creator co-founded businesses (particularly software businesses)! the two examples above are founded by two creators (who i happen to like a lot - i recommend following!) + follows recently funded Journey (by thepointsguy - brilliant) & obviously large CPG successes like Rhode & Feastables.

• this genre of app (aka taking care of a virtual pet of some sort to enable good IRL habits) is everywhere (and apparently very profitable). i talked about Tolan in a recent video, and also Finch (which is apparently $$$$, incredibly profitable). there’s also Amaru and Otto and dozens of others. it seems to be really resonating with users to enable good irl behavior (a cool example of how tech can improve lives in a very tangible way for general people) + is also incredibly lucrative.

has anyone in this community used this (either Focus Friends or any of these virtual pet self-care apps) before?? i haven’t yet but would be excited to hear about whether it’s worked well for you etc)

💰 Companies that will make you a millionaire

Every week I highlight a few of my favorite startups that I personally think are really promising. They’ve typically received funding that week + are hiring, and occasionally I’ll include some special bonus ones.

And now you can easily earn some cold hard cash 💰: you can now use PINpoint (a fun product my company has been building) to earn $$ (anywhere from $5K to $30K) for successfully referring people to top startups. The brilliant part about this is:

1) you don’t even need to know the person who’s ultimately hired - if you post a link on LinkedIn and the algorithm shows it to someone who ultimately clicks the link and is hired, you get the $$$ 😏 

2) all of these companies are great and highly respected, so your friend (or random person who saw your post) will also thank you 😉 win win

(PS are you a founder or do you work at a cool startup that’s hiring? reply back with the name so we can give you guys a shout!)

This week’s featured companies:

1. Eight Sleep: the AI-powered smart mattress raised $100M at a valuation near $1B! Incredible given that most DTC mattress companies blew up and then fell off. The startup is rolling out its AI-driven Sleep Agent, pushing into retail, and filing for FDA approval as a medical device (and they’re hiring a ton!) —

   • Job openings can be found here

2. Zed: “Google Docs for coding” - a company I’ve heard a lot of about from my engineering friends! Just raised a $32M Series B led by Sequoia Capital (total funding now over $42M) to supercharge real-time collaboration between developers and AI agents

   • Job openings can be found here